Meet Matt!

Hey everyone, I am Matthew Kovarek.  I am a first year employee of PACC (Peer Alumni from Community Colleges) and I am responsible for assisting and guiding new and recent transfers from my former community college AACC (Anne Arundel Community College), and am a recent resident of the state of Maryland.  I grew up in a small town on the coast of Texas called Port Lavaca, not many people have ever even heard of it.  I attended high school there as well.  I was anxious to leave after graduation, but did not know what I wanted to do.  Therefore, I joined the Air Force.  I did a 3 year tour before I got out, and fell into plumbing, as I still did not know what I wanted to do.  Through plumbing, I discovered an interest in engineering.  I still did not have any idea what kind of engineering I wanted to do until I had to do an Intro to Engineering class at AACC.  It was there, that I discovered what I wanted to do during a project where we had to research various types of engineering.  That is where I found Chemical Engineering.  This turned out to be great since I also recently obtained my Master Plumber's License, as these two fields are closely related.  I hope to do some internships and/or research over the next few summers to help me decide what I want to specialize in within this field.

I also dabble a little with guitar and am a very athletic person.  I usually work out or exercise at least 4-5 times a week.  I really enjoy animals and have a few cats and dogs of my own.

Occasionally I do enjoy a good book, but I rarely have time during the school year. 

As a PACC leader, I aim to assist students in the process of transferring to UMBC.  I made the transition with no one to aide me, and I know firsthand how frustratingly hard the process can be.  I want to use my experience to assist others so that they do not have to go through the same painful process that I did. I am looking forward to helping students this semester, as well as meeting new and interesting people.  I am usually at helping out at TSN events, but feel free to stop me on campus and say hi, whether you have any specific questions for me or not.
 
I hope that everyone has had a great start to the school year.